ABSTRACT
In such settings, pervasive computing concepts and technology seem to offer attractive solutions. One can easily extrapolate Weiser’s original ubiquitous computing vision into a hospital setting where pads (equivalent to PDAs), tabs (equivalent to tablet PCs), and liveboards (equivalent to interactive Smart Boards) would be available in large numbers everywhere.29 These devices would all be seamlessly connected in a wired and wireless network to provide location and context awareness, available for all to use anywhere, anytime. For example, a nurse would pick up a pad in a patient’s room and use it for small, quick jobs like documenting medicine handout; a physician would pick up a tab when arriving at the ward, be automatically identified, and then use this pad during the ward round; a radiologist would be able to access and present radiology images in medical-grade quality on an arbitrary liveboard in any of the conference and meeting rooms in the hospital; collaborative software systems for colocated and distributed cooperation regarding patients and their treatments would be available on all three devices. Location and context awareness would ensure that the proper information would be available for easy access in all places and would reduce the chances of relevant medical information being overlooked.
